CALL FOR PROPOSALS EAC/S09/2020

Version: October 2018

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EDUCATION, YOUTH, SPORT AND CULTURE

Innovation, International Cooperation and Sport Sport

CALL FOR PROPOSALS EAC/S09/2020

Grassroots sport programmes and infrastructure innovation

1. I

– B

This call for proposals serves to implement the Preparatory action for the implementation of the Grassroots sport programmes and infrastructure innovation in accordance with the Commission Decision C(2020)1194 of 4 March 2020 on the adoption of the 2020 annual work programme¹ for the implementation of pilot projects and preparatory actions in the area of education, sport and culture.

The practice of sport and physical activity in Europe traditionally takes place in the framework of sport clubs and organisations. These traditional structures organise sport practices in accordance with stable rules (“the rules of the game”). In many cases, large and costly sport facilities were generally the environment where those practices were organised.

However, nowadays individual needs and preferences regarding sport are evolving rapidly. Figures concerning the participation in sport and physical activity indicate that there is a rising mismatch between the supply of sport via traditional sport organisations and the demand of individuals. In order to attract new generations, sport federations, organisations and clubs should improve their offer through creativity, innovation and new form of practices.

They could consider working in two directions. First, they can consider enlarging their offer, making it more diverse, informal and open it to new publics, favouring at the same time democratisation and integration. They could secondly use and promote light and flexible sport infrastructures allowing the practice of sport in a wider diversity of places.

The legal basis of this call for proposals is:

Preparatory Action within the meaning of Article 58 (2) (b) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1)²

1 2020 annual work programme for the implementation of Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions in the area of education, youth, sport and culture

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/sites/creative-europe/files/2020-annual-work-programme-creative-europe-c2019-1194.pdf 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018R1046&from=EN

2. O

(

) – T

(

) – P

The general objective of this action is to give the opportunity to sport organisations to develop and promote new forms of practicing sport and physical activity through the adaptation of the infrastructure and/or the offer of sport activities/programmes.

This includes the development of new forms of sport and physical activities, the communication about these activities and their benefits as well as the development of small, recreational sport facilities.

The expected outcomes of this preparatory action include:

 Overview and better knowledge about new forms of practice of sport and physical activity;

 Activities and initiatives promoting new forms of practicing sport and physical activity undertaken by different actors such as federations, sport organisations or local authorities;

 Development of small, recreational sport facilities and adaptation of the already existing ones;

 Better integration of new ways of practicing sport and physical activity in the existing offer from traditional sport federations and organisations;

 Increased participation of young people in sport.

The applicant organisation has to be based in one of the EU Member States.

2.2. Specific objective

The specific objective of this action is to support the promotion of physical activity through flexible, modern ways of practicing sport both in terms of offer (trainings, activities) and in terms of infrastructure.

3. T

Steps Date and time or

indicative period

(a) Publication of the call 20 May 2020

(b) Deadline for submitting applications 01 July 2020, 12:00, (noon), Brussels time

(c) Evaluation period June-September 2020

(d) Information to applicants October 2020

(e) Signature of grant agreements November 2020

4. B

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at 1.200.000 EUR.

The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-financing rate of 80% of eligible costs.

Between 2 and 4 projects should be in principle selected

The maximum amount per individual grant will be 650.000 EUR.

The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

5. A

R

 sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 3;

 submitted in writing (see section 14), using the electronic submission system available at https://ec.europa.eu/sport/calls_en ; and

 drafted in one of the EU official languages

Failure to comply with those requirements will lead to rejection of the application.

6. E

C

Only applications from legal entities established in EU Member States are eligible.

In order to be eligible, projects must be presented by applicants meeting the following criteria:

 be a public or private organisation with legal personality who are mainly active in the sport field and that regularly organise sport activities, at any level;

 have their registered legal office in one of the EU Member States.

Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants (the list is not exhaustive and is given for example only):

 European or National Sport federations;

 Non-profit organisation (private or public);

 Public authorities (national, regional, local);

 International or European organisations;

 Sport clubs.

Natural persons are not eligible to apply for a grant under this call.

3 Articles 194(1)(b) and 197 FR

Please be aware that following the entry into force of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement⁴ on 1 February 2020 and in particular Articles 127(6), 137 and 138, the references to natural or legal persons residing or established in a Member State of the European Union are to be understood as including natural or legal persons residing or established in the United Kingdom. UK residents and entities are therefore eligible to participate under this call.

Supporting documents

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested:

 private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, extract of trade or association register, certificate of liability to VAT (if, as in certain countries, the trade register number and VAT number are identical, only one of these documents is required);

 public entity: copy of the resolution, decision or other official document establishing the public-law entity ;

6.2. Eligible activities

Only activities pursuing one or several objectives mentioned in section 2 are eligible.

Specifically, applicants are expected to propose actions that promote new forms of practicing sport, integrating for instance the following dimensions (non-exhaustive list):

 adaptation of the existing infrastructure;

 organisation of new forms of physical activities;

 innovative approach to training programmes;

 intergenerational activities;

 use of digital technology.

Implementation period

 Activities may not start before 01-01-2021

 Activities are to be completed by 31-12-2023.

These activities must take place in the EU Member States. The minimum duration of projects is 12 months. The maximum duration of projects is 36 months.

Applications for projects scheduled to run for a shorter or longer period than that specified in this call for proposals will not be accepted.

4 Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

7.

7.1. Exclusion

The authorising officer shall exclude an applicant from participating in call for proposals procedures where:

(a) the applicant is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended, or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under EU or national laws or regulations;

(b) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the applicant is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the applicable law;

(c) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the applicant is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

(i) fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of eligibility or selection criteria or in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision;

(ii) entering into agreement with other applicants with the aim of distorting competition;

(iii) violating intellectual property rights;

(iv) attempting to influence the decision-making process of the Commission during the award procedure;

(v) attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

(d) it has been established by a final judgment that the applicant is guilty of any of the following:

(i) fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;

(ii) corruption, as defined in Article 4(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 or Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, or conduct referred to in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, or corruption as defined in the applicable law;

(iii) conduct related to a criminal organisation, as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;

(iv) money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1(3), (4) and (5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(v) terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

(vi) child labour or other offences concerning trafficking in human beings as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(e) the applicant has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision financed by the Union's budget, which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following checks, audits or investigations by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors;

(f) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the applicant has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95;

(g) It has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that the applicant has created an entity in a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or any other legal obligations of mandatory application in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business;

(h) it has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that an entity has been created with the intent referred to in point (g);

(i) for the situations referred to in points (c) to (h) above, the applicant is subject to:

(i) facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by European Public Prosecutor's Office after its establishment, the Court of Auditors, the European Anti-Fraud Office or the internal auditor, or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;

(ii) non-final judgments or non-final administrative decisions which may include disciplinary measures taken by the competent supervisory body responsible for the verification of the application of standards of professional ethics;

(iii) facts referred to in decisions of persons or entities being entrusted with EU budget implementation tasks;

(iv) information transmitted by Member States implementing Union funds;

(v) decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of Union competition law or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law; or

(vi) decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body.

7.2. Remedial measures⁵

If an applicant declares one of the situations of exclusion listed above (see section 7.1.), it must indicate the measures it has taken to remedy the exclusion situation, thus demonstrating its reliability. This may include e.g. technical, organisational and personnel measures to correct the conduct and prevent further occurrence, compensation

5 Article 136(7) FR

of damage or payment of fines or of any taxes or social security contributions. The relevant documentary evidence which illustrates the remedial measures taken must be provided in annex to the declaration. This does not apply for situations referred in point (d) of section 7.1.

7.3. Rejection from the call for proposals

The authorising officer shall not award a grant to an applicant who:

(a) is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with section 7.1; or

(b) has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information; or

(c) was previously involved in the preparation of documents used in the award procedure where this entails a breach of the principle of equal treatment, including distortion of competition, that cannot be remedied otherwise.

Administrative sanctions (exclusion)⁶ may be imposed on applicants if any of the declarations or information provided as a condition for participating in this procedure proves to be false.

7.4. Supporting documents⁷

Applicants must provide a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 136(1) and 141FR, by filling in the relevant form attached to the application form accompanying the call for proposals.

8. S

The financial capacity will be assessed based on the following methodology and its annexes: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/methodology-grants-eac_en.pdf.

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the duration of the grant and to participate in its funding. The applicants' financial capacity will be assessed on the basis of the following supporting documents to be submitted with the application:

Grants with a pre-financing value of EUR 600 000 or less

For grants of this type, proof of financial capacity is constituted by a declaration on the honour by the grant applicant (see Annex 1 of the Application form).

However, in case of doubt and only for grants exceeding EUR 60 000, the assessment committee reserves the right to request supporting documents and to carry out a financial analysis as described at point 4 of the above mentioned methodology (cf. Article 198(4) of the FR)

6 Article 138 FR

7 Article 137 FR

8 Article 198 FR

9 Article 198 FR.

Moreover for grants exceeding EUR 60 000, entities falling into one of the high-risk categories mentioned at point 3.1 of the methodology must provide proof of their financial capacity and are required to undergo the financial analysis provided for in point 4 of the same methodology.

On the basis of the documents submitted, if the Commission considers that financial capacity is weak, it may:

 request further information;

 decide not to give pre-financing;

 decide to give pre-financing paid in instalments;

 decide to give pre-financing covered by a bank guarantee (see section 11.4 below);

 where applicable, require the joint and several financial liability of all the co- beneficiaries.

If the RAO considered that the financial capacity is insufficient s/he will reject the application.

8.2. Operational capacity¹⁰

Applicants must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action. In this respect, applicants have to submit a declaration on their honour, and the following supporting documents:

 curriculum vitae or description of the profile of the people primarily responsible for managing and implementing the operation (accompanied where appropriate, like in the field of research and education, by a list of relevant publications);

 an exhaustive lists of previous projects and activities performed and connected to the policy field of a given call or to the actions to be carried out;

9. A

Eligible applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

 Relevance of the project (criterion 1) (maximum 40 points): A minimum threshold of 20 points out of 40 will be applied to criterion 1; applications falling below this threshold will be rejected.

Under criterion 1, proposals will be assessed on the basis of the extent to which:

 They contribute to the general objective of the action described in section 2, in particular with regards to the development of forms of practicing sport and physical activity, and are in line with EU policies in the field of sport;

 They contribute to the outcomes expected from the action defined in section 2 (i.e. the development of small, recreational sport facilities and adaptation of the

10 Article 196 and 198 FR.

11 Article 199 FR

already existing ones; the development of activities and initiatives promoting new forms of practicing sport and physical activity);

 They contribute to the specific objective defined in section 2 (support the promotion of physical activity through flexible, modern ways of practicing sport).

 Quality (criterion 2) (maximum 40 points): A minimum threshold of 20 points out of 40 will be applied to criterion 2; applications falling below this threshold will be rejected.

Under criterion 2, proposals will be assessed according to the quality of the overall design of the activities proposed and to the methodology used to implement them. The following aspects will be taken into account:

 Number of participants involved in and benefiting from the project's activities;

 Cooperation established with different EU Member States and/or involving different sports;

 Cost efficiency (the extent to which the project is cost-effective and allocates appropriate resources to each activity);

 Sustainability of the proposed activities (the extent to which the activities will be carried out also after the end of the project);

 Consistency between project objectives, methodology, activities and budget proposed;

 Quality and feasibility of the methodology proposed.

 Management of the project (criterion 3) (maximum 20 points): A minimum threshold of 10 points out of 20 will be applied to criterion 3; applications falling below this threshold will be rejected.

Under criterion 3, proposals will be assessed on the basis of the extent to which the applicants demonstrate their ability to organise, coordinate and implement the various aspects of the proposed activities. The following aspects will be taken into account:

 Overall quality of the project team;

 The risks envisaged and their mitigating actions;

 The appropriateness and quality of measures aimed at sharing the outcomes of the project towards external organisations and the general public.

Points will be allocated to eligible applications out of a total of 100 on the basis of the above-specified weighting. Applications falling below any of the thresholds per criterion mentioned above will be rejected.

Moreover, a minimum threshold of 60 points will be applied for the three award criteria combined. Applications falling below this threshold will also be rejected.

10.

In the event of a grant awarded by the Commission, a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding, will be sent to the applicant, as well as the information on the procedure to formalise the agreement of the parties.

The two copies of the original agreement must be signed first by the beneficiary and returned to the Commission immediately. The Commission will sign it last.

11.

11.1. Form of the grant¹³

11.1.1 Reimbursement of costs actually incurred

The grant will be defined by applying a maximum co-financing rate of 80% to the eligible costs actually incurred and declared by the beneficiary

For details on eligibility of costs, please refer to section 11.2.

11.2. Eligible costs¹⁴

Eligible costs shall meet all the following criteria:

 they are incurred by the beneficiary.

 they are incurred during the duration of the action, with the exception of costs relating to final reports and audit certificates;

o The period of eligibility of costs will start as specified in the grant agreement.

o If a beneficiary can demonstrate the need to start the action before the agreement is signed, the costs eligibility period may start before that signature. Under no circumstances can the eligibility period start before the date of submission of the grant application.

 they are indicated in the estimated budget of the action

 they are necessary for the implementation of the action which is the subject of the grant;

 they are identifiable and verifiable, in particular being recorded in the accounting records of the beneficiary and determined according to the applicable accounting standards of the country where the beneficiary is established and according to the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary;

 they comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation;

 they are reasonable, justified, and comply with the principle of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.

The beneficiary's internal accounting and auditing procedures must permit direct reconciliation of the costs and revenue declared in respect of the action/project with the corresponding accounting statements and supporting documents.

12Article 201 FR.

13 Articles 125 and 194(1)(c) FR

14 Article 186 FR

Eligible costs may be direct or indirect.

11.2.1. Eligible direct costs

The eligible direct costs for the action are those costs which:

with due regard to the conditions of eligibility set out above, are identifiable as specific costs directly linked to the performance of the action and which can therefore be booked to it directly, such as :

(a) the costs of personnel working under an employment contract with the beneficiary or an equivalent appointing act and assigned to the action, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary’s usual policy on remuneration.

Those costs include actual salaries plus social security contributions and other statutory costs included in the remuneration. They may also comprise additional remunerations, including payments on the basis of supplementary contracts regardless of the nature of those contracts, provided that they are paid in a consistent manner whenever the same kind of work or expertise is required, independently from the source of funding used;

The costs of natural persons working under a contract with the beneficiary other than an employment contract or who are seconded to the beneficiary by a third party against payment may also be included under such personnel costs, provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i) the person works under conditions similar to those of an employee (in particular regarding the way the work is organised, the tasks that are performed and the premises where they are performed);

(ii) the result of the work belongs to the beneficiary (unless exceptionally agreed otherwise); and

(iii) the costs are not significantly different from the costs of staff performing similar tasks under an employment contract with the beneficiary;

The recommended methods for the calculation of direct personnel costs are provided in Appendix.

(b) costs of travel and related subsistence allowances, provided that these costs are in line with the beneficiary’s usual practices on travel;

(c) the depreciation costs of equipment or other assets (new or second-hand) as recorded in the beneficiary’s accounting statements, provided that the asset:

(i) is written off in accordance with the international accounting standards and the beneficiary’s usual accounting practices; and

(ii) has been purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement, if the purchase occurred within the implementation period;

The costs of renting or leasing equipment or other assets are also eligible, provided that these costs do not exceed the depreciation costs of similar equipment or assets and are exclusive of any finance fee;

Only the portion of the equipment’s depreciation, rental or lease costs corresponding to the implementation period and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action may be taken into account when determining the eligible costs. By way of exception, the full cost of purchase of equipment may be eligible under the Special Conditions, if this is justified by the nature of the action and the context of the use of the equipment or assets;

(d) costs of consumables and supplies, provided that they:

(i) are purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement; and

(ii) are directly assigned to the action;

(e) costs arising directly from requirements imposed by the Agreement (dissemination of information, specific evaluation of the action, audits, translations, reproduction), including the costs of requested financial guarantees, provided that the corresponding services are purchased in accordance with the rules on implementation contracts laid down in the grant agreement;

(f) costs derived from subcontracts, provided that specific conditions on subcontracting as laid down in the grant agreement are met;

(g) costs of financial support to third parties, provided that the conditions laid down in the grant agreement are met;

(h) duties, taxes and charges paid by the beneficiary, notably value added tax (VAT), provided that they are included in eligible direct costs, and unless specified otherwise in the grant agreement.

11.2.2.Eligible indirect costs (overheads) Not applicable.

11.3. Ineligible costs

The following items are not considered as eligible costs:

a) return on capital and dividends paid by a beneficiary;

b) debt and debt service charges;

c) provisions for losses or debts;

d) interest owed;

e) doubtful debts;

f) exchange losses;

g) costs of transfers from the Commission charged by the bank of a beneficiary;

h) costs declared by the beneficiary under another action receiving a grant financed from the Union budget. Such grants include grants awarded by a Member State and financed from the Union budget and grants awarded by bodies other than the Commission for the purpose of implementing the Union budget. In particular, beneficiaries receiving an operating grant financed by the EU or Euratom budget cannot declare indirect costs for the period(s) covered by the operating grant,

unless they can demonstrate that the operating grant does not cover any costs of the action.

i) contributions in kind from third parties;

j) excessive or reckless expenditure;

k) deductible VAT 11.4. Balanced budget¹⁵

The estimated budget of the action must be attached to the application form. It must have revenue and expenditure in balance.

The budget must be drawn up in euros.

Applicants for whom costs will not be incurred in euros should use the exchange rate published on the Infor-euro website available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm The applicant must ensure that the resources which are necessary to carry out the action are not entirely provided by the EU grant.

Co-financing of the action may take the form of:

 the beneficiary's own resources,

 income generated by the action or work programme,

 financial contributions from third parties.

Overall co-financing¹⁶ may also include in-kind contributions from third parties, i.e. non- financial resources made available free of charge by third parties to the beneficiary or to the consortium. The corresponding costs of third parties are not eligible under the grant, e.g. providing a meeting room or equipment for free, etc.

In-kind contributions shall be presented separately in the estimated budget to reflect the total resources allocated to the action. Their approximate value shall be indicated in the estimated budget and shall not be subject to subsequent changes.

11.5. Calculation of the final grant amount

The final amount of the grant is calculated by the Commission at the time of the payment of the balance. The calculation involves the following steps:

Step 1 — Application of the reimbursement rate to the eligible costs

The amount under step 1 is obtained by applying the reimbursement rate specified in section 11.1.1to the eligible costs actually incurred and accepted by the Commission,

Step 2 — Limit to the maximum amount of the grant

The total amount paid to the beneficiaries by the Commission may in no circumstances exceed the maximum amount of the grant as indicated in the grant agreement. If the amount obtained following Step 1 is higher than this maximum amount, the final amount of the grant is limited to the latter.

15 Article 196(1)(e) FR

16 Article 190 FR

If volunteers' work is declared as part of direct eligible costs, the final amount of the grant is limited to the amount of total eligible costs approved by the Commission minus the amount of volunteers' work approved by the Commission.

Step 3 — Reduction due to the no-profit rule

‘Profit’ means the surplus of receipts over the total eligible costs of the action where receipts are the amount obtained following Steps 1 and 2 plus the revenue generated by the action for beneficiaries other than non-profit organisations.

In-kind and financial contributions by third parties are not considered receipts.

The total eligible costs of the action are the consolidated total eligible costs approved by the Commission. The revenue generated by the action is the consolidated revenue established, generated or confirmed for beneficiaries other than non-profit organisations on the date on which the request for payment of the balance is drawn up.

If there is a profit, it will be deducted in proportion to the final rate of reimbursement of the actual eligible costs of the action approved by the Commission.

Step 4 — Reduction due to improper implementation or breach of other obligations The Commission may reduce the maximum amount of the grant if the action has not been implemented properly (i.e. if it has not been implemented or has been implemented poorly, partially or late), or if another obligation under the Agreement has been breached.

The amount of the reduction will be proportionate to the degree to which the action has been implemented improperly or to the seriousness of the breach.

11.6. Reporting and payment arrangements¹⁷

The beneficiary may request the following payments provided that the conditions of the grant agreement are fulfilled (e.g. payment deadlines, ceilings, etc.). The payment requests shall be accompanied by the documents provided below and detailed in the grant agreement:

Payment request¹⁸ Accompanying documents¹⁹ A pre-financing payment corresponding to

60% of the maximum grant amount Payment of the balance

The Commission will establish the amount of this payment on the basis of the calculation of the final grant amount (see section 11.5 above).

(a) final technical report (b) final financial statement (c) summary financial statement

aggregating the financial statements already submitted

17 Articles 115, 202 and 203 FR.

18 Article 115 FR

19 Article 203(2) FR

If the total of earlier payments is higher than the final grant amount, the beneficiary will be required to reimburse the amount paid in excess by the Commission through a recovery order²⁰.

previously and indicating the receipts

(d)

In case of a weak financial capacity, section 8.1 above applies.

11.6.1Pre-financing guarantee²¹

A pre-financing guarantee for up to the same amount as the pre-financing may be requested in order to limit the financial risks linked to the pre-financing payment.

The financial guarantee, in euro, shall be provided by an approved bank or financial institution established in one of the EU Member States. When the beneficiary is established in a third country, the Commission may agree that a bank or financial institution established in that third country may provide the guarantee if it considers that the bank or financial institution offers equivalent security and characteristics as those offered by a bank or financial institution established in a Member State. Amounts blocked in bank accounts shall not be accepted as financial guarantees.

The guarantee may be replaced by:

 a joint and several guarantee by a third party or,

 a joint guarantee of the beneficiaries of an action who are parties to the same grant agreement.

The guarantee shall be released as the pre-financing is gradually cleared against interim payments or the payment of the balance, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the grant agreement.

11.7. Other financial conditions a) Non-cumulative award²²

An action may only receive one grant from the EU budget.

Under no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget. To ensure this, applicants shall indicate in the grant application the sources and amounts of Union funding received or applied for the same action or part of the action or for its (the applicant's) functioning during the same financial year as well as any other funding received or applied for the same action.²³

b) Non-retroactivity²⁴

No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where the applicant can demonstrate in the grant application the need to start the action before the grant agreement is signed.

20 Article 115(2) FR

21 Articles 152 and 153 FR

22 Article 191 FR

23 Article 196(1)(f) FR

24 Article 193 FR

In such cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application.

c) Implementation contracts/subcontracting²⁵

Where the implementation of the action requires the award of procurement contracts (implementation contracts), the beneficiary may award the contract in accordance with its usual purchasing practices provided that the contract is awarded to the tender offering best value for money or the lowest price (as appropriate), avoiding conflicts of interest.

The beneficiary is expected to clearly document the tendering procedure and retain the documentation in the event of an audit.

Beneficiaries may subcontract tasks forming part of the action. If they do so, they must ensure that, in addition to the above-mentioned conditions of best value for money and absence of conflicts of interests, the following conditions are also complied with:

a) subcontracting does not cover core tasks of the action;

b) recourse to subcontracting is justified because of the nature of the action and what is necessary for its implementation;

c) the estimated costs of the subcontracting are clearly identifiable in the estimated budget;

d) any recourse to subcontracting, if not provided for in description of the action, is communicated by the beneficiary and approved by the Commission.

The Commission may grant approval:

(i) before any recourse to subcontracting, if the beneficiaries requests an amendment

(ii) after recourse to subcontracting if the subcontracting:

 is specifically justified in the interim or final technical report and

 does not entail changes to the grant agreement which would call into question the decision awarding the grant or be contrary to the equal treatment of applicants;

e) the beneficiaries ensure that certain conditions applicable to beneficiaries, enumerated in the grant agreement (e.g. visibility, confidentiality, etc.), are also applicable to the subcontractors.

d) Financial support to third parties²⁶

The applications may not envisage provision of financial support to third parties.

12. P

Beneficiaries must clearly acknowledge the European Union’s contribution in all publications or in conjunction with activities for which the grant is used.

25 Article 205 FR

26 Article 204 FR

In this respect, beneficiaries are required to give prominence to the name and emblem of the European Commission on all their publications, posters, programmes and other products realised under the co-financed project.

12.2. By the Commission²⁷

With the exception of scholarships paid to natural persons and other direct support paid to natural persons in most need, all information relating to grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published on an internet site of the European Union institutions no later than the 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the grants were awarded.

The Commission will publish the following information:

 name of the beneficiary;

 address of the beneficiary when the latter is a legal person, region when the beneficiary is a natural person, as defined on NUTS 2 level²⁸ if he/she is domiciled within the EU or equivalent if domiciled outside the EU;

 subject of the grant;

 amount awarded.

Upon a reasoned and duly substantiated request by the beneficiary, the publication shall be waived if such disclosure risks threatening the rights and freedoms of individuals concerned as protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union or harm the commercial interests of the beneficiaries.

13. P

The reply to any call for proposals involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CV).Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC.

Unless indicated otherwise, the questions and any personal data requested that are required to evaluate the application in accordance with the call for proposal will be processed solely for that purpose by European Commission, Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Unit C4, Sport.

Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System by the Commission, should the beneficiary be in one of the situations mentioned inArticles136and 141of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046²⁹.For more information see the Privacy Statement on:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/data-protection-public-procurement-procedures_en.

27 Articles 38 and 189 FR.

28 Commission Regulation (EC) No 105/2007 of 1 February 2007 amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS), OJ L39, 10.2.2007, p.1.

29 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32018R1046

14. P

No modification to the application is allowed once the deadline for submission has elapsed. However, if there is a need to clarify certain aspects or to correct clerical mistakes, the Commission may contact the applicant during the evaluation process³⁰.Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the selection process.³¹

Electronic submission:

Proposals must be submitted using the online application form available on the webpage of this call for proposals and attaching all required annexes (including the budget of the action, the declaration on honour, the legal entity and bank account forms, and documents proving the operational capacity of the applicant). The model grant agreement is provided for information purposes only (not to be filled in with the application form).

 Contacts European Commission

DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture Unit C4-Sport

Eac-sport@ec.europa.eu Tel.: +32.2.2965232

 Annexes:

 Checklist of documents to be provided

 Model grant agreement

 Financial and technical report template

30Articles 151 and 200(3) FR

31Article 200 FR

Appendix

Specific conditions for direct personnel costs

1. Calculation

The ways of calculating eligible direct personnel costs laid down in points (a) and (b) below are recommended and accepted as offering assurance as to the costs declared being actual.

The Commission may accept a different method of calculating personnel costs used by the beneficiary, if it considers that it offers an adequate level of assurance of the costs declared being actual.

a) for persons working exclusively on the action:

{monthly rate for the person multiplied by

number of actual months worked on the action}

The months declared for these persons may not be declared for any other EU or Euratom grant.

The monthly rate is calculated as follows:

{annual personnel costs for the person divided by 12}

using the personnel costs for each full financial year covered by the reporting period concerned.

If a financial year is not closed at the end of the reporting period, the beneficiaries must use the monthly rate of the last closed financial year available;

b) for persons working part time on the action

(i) If the person is assigned to the action at a fixed pro-rata of their working time:

{monthly rate for the person multiplied by pro-rata assigned to the action multiplied by

number of actual months worked on the action}

The working time pro-rata declared for these persons may not be declared for any other EU or Euratom grant.

The monthly rate is calculated as above.

(ii) In other cases:

{hourly rate for the person multiplied by number of actual hours worked on the action}

or

{daily rate for the person multiplied by number of actual days worked on the action}

(rounded up or down to the nearest half-day)

The number of actual hours/days declared for a person must be identifiable and verifiable.

The total number of hours/days declared in EU or Euratom grants, for a person for a year, cannot be higher than the annual productive hours/days used for the calculations of the hourly/daily rate. Therefore, the maximum number of hours/days that can be declared for the grant are:

{number of annual productive hours/days for the year (see below) minus

total number of hours and days declared by the beneficiary, for that person for that year, for other EU or Euratom grants}.

The ‘hourly/daily rate’ is calculated as follows:

{annual personnel costs for the person divided by

number of individual annual productive hours/days}using the personnel costs and the number of annual productive hours/days for each full financial year covered by the reporting period concerned.

If a financial year is not closed at the end of the reporting period, the beneficiaries must use the hourly/daily rate of the last closed financial year available.

The ‘number of individual annual productive hours/days’ is the total actual hours/days worked by the person in the year. It may not include holidays and other absences (such as sick leave, maternity leave, special leave, etc.). However, it may include overtime and time spent in meetings, trainings and other similar activities.

2. Documentation to support personnel costs declared as actual costs

For persons working exclusively on the action, where the direct personnel costs are calculated following point (a), there is no need to keep time records, if the beneficiary signs a declaration confirming that the persons concerned have worked exclusively on the action.

For persons assigned to the action at a fixed pro-rata of their working time, where the direct personnel costs are calculated following point (b)(i), there is no need to keep time records, if the beneficiary signs a declaration that the persons concerned have effectively worked at the fixed pro-rata on the action.

For persons working part time on the action, where direct personnel costs are calculated following point (b)(ii), the beneficiaries must keep time records for the number of hours/days declared. The time records must be in writing and approved by the persons working on the action and their supervisors, at least monthly.

In the absence of reliable time records of the hours worked on the action, the Commission may accept alternative evidence supporting the number of hours/days declared, if it considers that it offers an adequate level of assurance.